Video: Starkville Superintendent Discusses Consolidation Bill

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI)- Starkville’s School superintendent held a meeting this afternoon to discuss the proposed amendments to a new house bill.

The new bill will consolidate the Starkville and Oktibbeha School districts.

Right now, the proposed amended bill will allow 3 board members to continue being appointed by the Starkville board of aldermen. One member will be elected from outside city limits. As far as student enrollment, school district boundaries and attendance zones will remain in place in order to avoid an influx of students coming into Starkville from Oktibbeha County. This bill came as a shock to the school board and even more of a shock to Starkville parents. We ask Holloway what were some of their concerns.

“Parents are concerned about the quality of education in their child’s classroom. The people and teacher ratio in their child’s classroom, about the number of kids in their child’s school. Sutteth is almost maxed out and there’s nowhere to build and so I think we have to act very carefully to not overcrowd a district that is already struggling to meet payroll and for the programs that we have,” says Dr. Holloway.

Holloway also added that he’s not against consolidation, but is against mandated consolidation that changes the fabric of a school district, especially a successful district like Starkville.

This newly organized district would officially be formed July 1, 2015. But, planning for the changes would begin immediately if the bill is passed.

In West Point a bill is moving forward in the Senate that would merge the Clay County and West Point School districts. It will give agricultural high schools in Coahoma and Hinds counties to the county school boards.

The move comes a year after lawmakers forced the merger of five Bolivar County districts into two and three Sunflower County districts into one.